TEHRAN — Nothing is more emblematic of war crimes and crimes against humanity than the deliberate killing of children. Since launching its assault on the Gaza Strip in October 2023, Israel has faced mounting accusations of systematically targeting civilians, particularly minors, in what many international experts are calling one of the deadliest conflicts for children in recent history.

According to Gaza’s Health Ministry, Israel has killed more than 60,000 Palestinians during the war, including at least 18,592 children. Many of the victims, officials say, were newborns or infants — some dying just hours after birth as Israeli airstrikes hit maternity wards, hospitals, and residential homes.

On July 30, The Washington Post published the names and ages of 18,500 Palestinian children killed in Gaza since the beginning of the conflict. Their analysis showed that 915 of the children were killed before reaching their first birthday. Citing UNICEF, the report stated: “Some were killed in their beds. Others, while playing. Many were buried before they learned to walk. Gaza is the most dangerous place in the world to be a child.”

In 2024, the United Nations added the Israeli military to its annual “List of Shame”, a global blacklist of forces and armed groups responsible for grave violations against children. Other entities on the list include ISIS, al-Qaeda, and Boko Haram.

Despite repeated condemnation from the international community, Israel has continued to bomb civilian infrastructure, including schools, hospitals, homes, and displacement camps. Israel has justified its actions by alleging that Hamas uses civilian areas for military operations, yet has failed to provide verifiable evidence to support many of these claims.

Multiple human rights organizations and international bodies — including the United Nations, European governments, and legal experts — have stated that Hamas’s presence in civilian areas does not justify the indiscriminate scale of attacks that have left tens of thousands of civilians, including children, dead.

The devastation in Gaza extends beyond the airstrikes. Israel’s ongoing blockade of the territory has created catastrophic shortages of food, water, and medicine. According to the UN Human Rights Office, 1,373 Palestinians have been killed while waiting for humanitarian aid since May, many of them children and women suffering from starvation and dehydration.

On July 29, the Israeli rights groups B’Tselem and Physicians for Human Rights released a joint statement accusing Israel of committing genocide in Gaza, pointing to the systematic destruction of Palestinian society and the deliberate dismantling of the healthcare system. Israel is also the subject of an active genocide case at the International Court of Justice (ICJ).

Under international humanitarian law, the intentional killing of civilians — especially children — constitutes a war crime. When carried out on a widespread or systematic basis, such acts may also amount to crimes against humanity. The Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC) explicitly prohibits the targeting of civilians, particularly when attacks are not directed at military objectives.

The Geneva Conventions and their Additional Protocols mandate the protection of civilians in times of conflict, granting children special protection due to their inherent vulnerability. The Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) guarantees every child the right to life, survival, and protection from violence, even in times of war.

Additionally, UN Security Council resolutions and customary international law identify the killing or maiming of children as one of six grave violations during armed conflict. These legal frameworks are binding on all parties, regardless of whether a conflict is international or domestic.